These days, rubbish removal in Sydney can be complicated, with all of the different rules and regulations surrounding what you can and cannot dispose of and how it’s done – gone are the days of throwing everything in a black bag and having it all go to a landfill.
It’s a good thing, too! In the past, there was so much waste from perfectly recyclable products, as it all ended up in landfills. Thanks to the issue of climate change and waste management being impressed upon us by people like David Attenborough, folks are now a lot more conscious about what they throw out and how they manage their household waste in general.
If you’re confused about white goods when dealing with your rubbish, here is Cheapest Load of Rubbish’s guide to white goods as part of our Sydney rubbish removal projects.
What Are White Goods?
“White Goods” is the colloquial term for household appliances in Australia. White goods can consist of anything that’s produced as an appliance in your home. Fridges, stoves, refrigerators, freezers, microwaves, electric kettles, barbecues, microwave ovens, the list goes on.
These goods, because they are made up of multiple different types of parts during manufacturing, have to be disposed of in a very specific way. Each part is possibly recyclable on its own, but that’s for the professionals to decide when they decommission the item.
What To Do With Old or Broken White Goods
Getting rid of old or broken white goods is something that most homeowners do once every year, maybe twice – as the bulky waste collections program comes around. This is usually a homeowner’s opportunity to throw these white good items to the wind and have the City deal with them.
Toasters can be recycled, as they are mostly made of metal that can be melted down and transformed into something else – unless your toaster has a digital display, then it is likely not a recyclable item as it’s filled with earth metals that are harmful to the planet when melted down.
Microwaves are your next concern when dealing with household white goods. The same is true of microwaves that have digital displays – but many of the clock parts of the microwave don’t have to be recycled – but other parts of the microwave can and should be recycled. Your local government will have a list of recyclable white goods – if microwaves aren’t specifically listed, they’ll likely need to be taken to a special private facility, or unfortunately tossed in the landfill.
Next up, there’s your refrigerator. This can be a tricky one, so most homeowners will just toss them into the bulky waste collection. However, many parts of the fridge can also be recycled.
The trickiest part of recycling the fridge is extracting the freon from the coolant system. Freon is a gas and as such has to be released very carefully in a controlled environment, as it can be toxic. Make sure you take your fridge to a reputable disposal location that can properly dispose of the freon. After that, there’s plenty of metal that can be recycled, and if your fridge has glass bottom drawers, these can also be recycled.
Your oven is the next big thing on your list of recyclables. Luckily for you, most parts of the oven can also be recycled, with the exception of the digital clock display. Most ovens are made of metals, plastics and glass that can be broken down and turned into something new.
Why Do I Need to Dispose of White Goods Properly?
One of the worst things that the human race has done to the planet is to create a society of disposability – we no longer reuse and recycle as our grandparents and parents – at least not in the same way. This has led to throwing away things that would otherwise have been used till they died on you.
Unfortunately, this has also meant that things that should be disposed of properly haven’t been. Fridges by the roadside, leaking freon into the soils as they rust away. Battery acids, lithium and other earth metals leaching into the soils from an oven or microwave that’s been tossed and left to rot.
Disposing of white goods properly helps us to mitigate and eliminate the presence of these otherwise-recyclable items at the roadside. Helping us keep our neighbourhoods safer and more aesthetically pleasing.
How Can Cheapest Load of Rubbish Help?
We are experts in rubbish removal in Sydney. We can help you over the phone by answering your questions about white goods and their removal. We also offer disposal services of these white goods, and are trained in where to take them for proper recycling. We can help you with the selection, transport and disposal of many household white goods – from big to small, it doesn’t matter.
Our main priority is to serve the people of Sydney and keep our neighbourhoods safe and clean, this means properly disposing of household items that would otherwise pose a danger, were they simply left to rot by the roadside.
Call the Sydney rubbish removal specialists at Cheapest Load of Rubbish today to find out how we can help you toss out that fridge, microwave, oven or chest freezer responsibly.
